The World Wide Web has developed into a significant transactional venue, sometimes referred to as e-commerce. As the online marketplace has developed, many retailers and individuals with one or more products to sell make detailed product information available online through their websites and other postings. However in order for prospective purchasers to then locate the product(s) they desire, they are currently limited to traditional searching. For example in traditional prior art type searching, prospective purchasers may conduct key word type word searches through generally known search engines which store product inventory information, and this will often times provide the prospective purchaser a long listing of websites or web pages which have been rated to contain the key words sought for. The search results list may contain any one of a number of different types of references, such as word references wherein the key words appear in an article, some product references, and any one of a number of other references. Existing searching and systems can therefore be inaccurate and/or provide a substantial amount of additional and unwanted information that the buyer then must screen through. This can take and waste a significant amount of additional time and consumers will demand more and more tailored search capabilities.
Too often the current inquiry and keyword match searching system for e-commerce requires reviewing dozens or hundreds of websites and references, and screening those venues to try to find the specific product the purchaser wants. This takes substantial time and results in fewer transactions than if a system were developed wherein a retailer or individual with one or more products to sell can utilize this invention to locate a buyer for their product(s). The purchase inputs the desired product information, and that information is then utilized to match a product available for purchase; or in the absence of a product match, to provide sufficient information so that a qualified seller can learn of and then provide a product matching the specific product criteria input by the prospective purchaser.
An object of some aspects of this invention therefore is to provide a purchaser based product system which provides the prospective purchaser only the product(s) or types of product(s) being sought.
Another object of aspects of this invention is also to provide a learning system which works with the purchaser input to provide assistance, learning and verifications to make the purchaser more efficient in the searching.
Yet another object of aspects of this invention is to provide such a system which retains prospective purchaser product specifications for a pre-determined length of time in a manner optimized for prospective vendors to locate individuals motivated to purchase products that meet those specifications. This allows purchase requests to be entered once by the potential buyer even when matching products are not currently offered for sale. The vendor(s) can repeatedly search purchase requests in an optimized manner in their attempt to satisfy these purchase requests.
While the invention was motivated in addressing some objectives, it is in no way so limited. The invention is only limited by the accompanying claims as literally worded, without interpretative or other limiting reference to the specification, and in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents. Other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will appear from the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. In carrying out the objects of this invention, it is to be understood that its essential features are susceptible to change in design and structural arrangement, with only one practical and preferred embodiment being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as required.